1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to the technical field of vehicle control systems that have a function of recognizing a vehicle exterior environment on the basis of captured images that are obtained through stereo-imaging of an advance direction of a vehicle equipped with the vehicle control system.
2. Related Art
Vehicle systems are known in which a vehicle exterior environment is recognized on the basis of, for instance, captured images that are obtained through stereo-imaging of the advance direction of a vehicle equipped with the vehicle control system, and in which predefined vehicle control (hereafter notated as “driving support control”) for driving support is performed on the basis of the recognition result. For instance, vehicle systems are known where so-called pre-crash brake control is performed on the basis of a result of recognition of a vehicle that is present in the advance direction of the vehicle, or recognition of other predefined obstacles. Pre-crash brake control involves performing predefined vehicle control of, for instance, recognizing a predefined target object (obstacle), such as a preceding vehicle present in the advance direction of the vehicle, and issuing a warning to the driver, and/or assisting braking, if there is a concern of collision against the target object.
Literature citations that pertain to the present invention include Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-41741.
In the recognition process of a target object, an object other than the target object may in some instances be misrecognized as the target object, due to various events that occur in the actual travel environment. A concern arises herein in that driving support control such as the above pre-crash brake control, for which there was essentially no need, may be executed mistakenly if such misrecognition occurs.
Examples of cases of target object misrecognition include misrecognition, as a target object, of a reflection on a windshield derived from an object that is placed on the top face of the dashboard. Such a reflection, on the windshield, of an object on the dashboard may in some instances be misrecognized, in a target object recognition process, as a target object that is present at a close range, depending for instance on relationships with the lighting conditions of the object on the dashboard, and the scenery across the windshield. A concern of sudden braking of the vehicle, through immediate intervention of pre-crash brake control, arises thus in a case of misrecognition of the target object at a close range.